Building a Culture of Peace: The Vocation of Peacemaking
Building a Culture of Peace: The Vocation of Peacemaking

The following story is part of the Vocation of Peacemaking series where we asked members and friends of the BPFNA to write brief essays on their peacemaking work. Each story is a wonderful reminder that there are as many ways to live a life of peace as there are people, and that we can act for peace in real and important ways wherever we find ourselves. This essay comes from Luis G. Collazo, a retired religion and ethics professor at the InterAmerican University of Puerto Rico and pastor in the Baptist Churches of Puerto Rico.

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BPFNAVocation of Peacemaking, Puerto Rico
Elderspirit: Our Vocation of Peacemaking
Elderspirit: Our Vocation of Peacemaking

The following story is part of the Vocation of Peacemaking series where we asked members and friends of the BPFNA to write brief essays on their peacemaking work. Each story is a wonderful reminder that there are as many ways to live a life of peace as there are people, and that we can act for peace in real and important ways wherever we find ourselves. This essay comes from Linda and Bill Mashburn, long-time BPFNA members who recently moved to a retirement community in Abingdon, VA.

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BPFNAVocation of Peacemaking, Partner Congregations, Sermons
‘Veterans for Peace’ Call Us to Remember: The Origins of November 11th Holiday
‘Veterans for Peace’ Call Us to Remember: The Origins of November 11th Holiday

This year, American Veterans for Peace chapters are asking cities, towns, schools, churches and other houses of worship around the U.S. and the world to reconsider the original intent of creating a public recognition of November 11th by adopting a procedure of bell ringing so as to honor peace and encourage their congregations to denounce war as a means of settling differences.

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BPFNAVeterans, Veteran's Day, Partner Congregations, Armistice Day
From Street Boy to President of Peace: My Vocation as a Peacemaker
From Street Boy to President of Peace: My Vocation as a Peacemaker

The following story is part of the Vocation of Peacemaking series where we asked members and friends of the BPFNA to write brief essays on their peacemaking work. Each story is a wonderful reminder that there are as many ways to live a life of peace as there are people, and that we can act for peace in real and important ways wherever we find ourselves. This essay comes from Boaz Keibarak, the president and founder of Kingdom of Peace and Development (KOPAD) which works for reconciliation and peaceful stability among inter-tribal communities in Kenya and across Uganda and Southern Sudan.

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BPFNAVocation of Peacemaking, Conflict Transformation, Gavel, Partners, PAPNET
Loving My Enemies: My Vocation as a Peacemaker
Loving My Enemies: My Vocation as a Peacemaker

The following story is part of the Vocation of Peacemaking series where we asked members and friends of the BPFNA to write brief essays on their peacemaking work. Each story is a wonderful reminder that there are as many ways to live a life of peace as there are people, and that we can act for peace in real and important ways wherever we find ourselves. This essay comes from Zachary Moon, a military chaplain serving the U.S. Marine Corps and author of the forthcoming book, Coming Home: Ministry That Matters with Veterans and Military Families.

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BPFNAVocation of Peacemaking, Moral Injury, Military, Veterans
My Vocation as a Peacemaker
My Vocation as a Peacemaker

The following story is part of the Vocation of Peacemaking series where we asked members and friends of the BPFNA to write brief essays on their peacemaking work. Each story is a wonderful reminder that there are as many ways to live a life of peace as there are people, and that we can act for peace in real and important ways wherever we find ourselves. This essay comes from Laurel Dykstra, Anglican priest and community-based activist and writer, who lives in East Vancouver.

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BPFNAVocation of Peacemaking, LGBTQIA, decolonization
A New Calling: My Vocation of Peacemaking
A New Calling: My Vocation of Peacemaking

The following story is part of the Vocation of Peacemaking series where we asked members and friends of the BPFNA to write brief essays on their peacemaking work. Each story is a wonderful reminder that there are as many ways to live a life of peace as there are people, and that we can act for peace in real and important ways wherever we find ourselves. This essay comes from author Adele Pfrimmer Hensley, who writes poetry on her life with Parkinson's disease and has published three children's books to support and educate children who have a seriously ill adult in their lives.

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BPFNAVocation of Peacemaking, Poetry, Parkinsons
My Vocation as a Peacemaker
My Vocation as a Peacemaker

The following story is part of the Vocation of Peacemaking series where we asked members and friends of the BPFNA to write brief essays on their peacemaking work. Each story is a wonderful reminder that there are as many ways to live a life of peace as there are people, and that we can act for peace in real and important ways wherever we find ourselves. This essay comes from Kate Fields, a 2nd Year at Vanderbilt Divinity School in Nashville, TX and a young adult in the BPFNA's Companioning Program.

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BPFNAVocation of Peacemaking, Young Adults, Members, Partner Congregations
Joy in the Air! A Reflection from the People's Climate March
Joy in the Air! A Reflection from the People's Climate March

We walked behind the bold red Baptist Peace Fellowship banner, which provided a space for us to gather and to keep up with each other during the march. We walked on the hard surfaces of street and sidewalk that beat my feet while my heart was singing, singing with wonder at the diverse community that had come together, singing with hope.

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BPFNAClimate Justice, Peoples Climate March, Climate Change, Members, Partner Congregations
Bible Stories, Kids and Peacemaking: My Vocation as a Peacemaker
Bible Stories, Kids and Peacemaking: My Vocation as a Peacemaker

The following story is part of the Vocation of Peacemaking series where we asked members and friends of the BPFNA to write brief essays on their peacemaking work. Each story is a wonderful reminder that there are as many ways to live a life of peace as there are people, and that we can act for peace in real and important ways wherever we find ourselves. This essay comes from Tama Ward Balisky, the artistic and storytelling director of Sacred Canopy, a non-profit in Vancouver that uses storytelling to explore faith and world culture.

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BPFNAVocation of Peacemaking, Children and Youth, Storytelling
BPFNA receives $15,000 Palmer Grant award • BPFNA recibe un premio Palmer Grant de $ 15,000
BPFNA receives $15,000 Palmer Grant award • BPFNA recibe un premio Palmer Grant de $ 15,000

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The Baptist Peace Fellowship of North America (BPFNA) received a $15,000 Palmer Grant (through the American Baptist Foundation) for a project called Justice at the Border, a two-part experience that will equip individuals and communities of faith to respond to injustices on the U.S./Mexico border. The grant covers the costs for 10 participants with a particular focus on attracting justice-minded young adults.

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BPFNA-Bautistas por la Paz (BPFNA) recibió una donación Palmer de $ 15,000 (a través de la Fundación Bautista Americana) para un proyecto llamado Justicia en la Frontera, una experiencia bipartita que equipa individuos y comunidades de fe para responder a las injusticias en la frontera entre Estados Unidos y México. La subvención cubre los costos de 10 participantes con un enfoque particular en atraer a la justicia a los jóvenes adultos.

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BPFNAFriendship Tours, Grants, Immigration, US Mexico border, Border Justice, Frontera, El Paso, Juarez
The Bright Brilliance of Middle Schoolers
The Bright Brilliance of Middle Schoolers

This is the next essay in our Vocation of Peacemaking series, where we asked members and friends of the BPFNA to write brief essays on their peacemaking work. Each story is a wonderful reminder that there are as many ways to live a life of peace as there are people, and that we can act for peace in real and important ways wherever we find ourselves. This one comes from Rev. David Weasley, director of youth and outreach at Zion Lutheran Church and board chair of the Association of Welcoming and Affirming Baptists.

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BPFNAVocation of Peacemaking, Ceacefire, Gun Violence, Children and Youth
Communicating “Peace”: My Vocation as a Peacemaker
Communicating “Peace”: My Vocation as a Peacemaker

This is the next essay in our Vocation of Peacemaking series, where we asked members and friends of the BPFNA to write brief essays on their peacemaking work. Each story is a wonderful reminder that there are as many ways to live a life of peace as there are people, and that we can act for peace in real and important ways wherever we find ourselves. This one comes from Jennifer Sanborn, pastor of Enfield American Baptist Church in Connecticut and a life coach for women.

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BPFNAVocation of Peacemaking
A Place of Prayer
A Place of Prayer

On Friday, August 29, 2014, American Baptist International Ministries missionaries Ray and Adalia Schellinger Gutierrez, along with ABCUSA General Secretary A. Roy Medley held a prayer vigil at Friendship Park in Tijuana, Mexico. The vigil was in response to the humanitarian crisis of unaccompanied minors fleeing violence and seeking refuge in the United States.

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BPFNABorder Justice, Tijuana, Mexico, Partners, Partner Congregations
No Job, No Food
No Job, No Food

The following is a sermon by BPFNA member Meredith Guest that she shared with the Unitarian Universalist congregation of Petaluma, California on September 1, 2014.

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BPFNALGBTQIA, Sermons
Gimme Shelter: My Vocation as a Peacemaker
Gimme Shelter: My Vocation as a Peacemaker

This essay is the first in a series called Vocation of Peacemaking where we asked members and friends of the BPFNA to write brief essays on their peacemaking work. Stories come from students, activists, teachers, parents, pastors, lay people, and retirees who work for peace in their jobs, their communities, their families, their volunteer time, and their neighborhoods in a wide variety of ways. Each story is a wonderful reminder that there are as many ways to live a life of peace as there are people, and that we can act for peace in real and important ways wherever we find ourselves.

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BPFNAVocation of Peacemaking, Members
Christian Ethics: A Latin American Perspective and Peace
Christian Ethics: A Latin American Perspective and Peace

BPFNA Board President Amaury Tañón-Santos was recently in San Cristóbal de Las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico teaching a course called "Christian Ethics: A Latin American Perspective and Peace" to seminarians at the Mayan Intercultural Seminary (SIM). The course lasted from August 25-29, 2014. The following is a brief report from Amaury about his time at SIM.

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BPFNASIM, Mexico, Theology